This is an article in Hovi Care’s series of 10 articles with the topic: 10 Wishes for Caregiver.
The keys to success when working with a person with memory disorders are both very easy but challenging. Everything starts with the person’s situation and his/her abilities.
In this series of articles, we’ll help you make the day successful with the person with dementia. (PwD) You will need a bag of tips and tricks to tackle multitude of situations. The tools and methods include:
- standing side-by-side
- reminiscing together
- continually searching for ways to enhance a person’s feeling of safety
- supporting a person’s self-image
- creating moments that enforce feelings of participation and a person’s sense of accomplishment
Let’s Get Started with The Value of Encouragement and Positivity
Encouragement and positive feedback are strongly connected with letting the person participate in ways that are suitable for him/her. You need to find areas in which you can support and leverage his/her capabilities and skills. In that way, the person will feel that he/she is doing many things without feeling inadequate.
Be Genuine and Sincere
Giving encouragement and feedback should be genuine, though. If there is no reason to give positive feedback, cheering will not work. For example, if the person has folded the napkins and the result is far from good, you should not give phoney encouragement. The person will be able to see through it. So first try to find out whether the person is proud of the result. If the result is not satisfactory, you should not focus attention on it at all. Whereas if the result is good, you should provide positive feedback as soon as possible, as the person might forget about the task he/she was at.
Keep Up the Celebration
To complement and encourage is what you would do with small children. It will help create a good mood in the atmosphere for better things to come. Hence folding the napkin once properly might be a good reason for cheering and celebration.
If you can sustain a positive and encouraging atmosphere, it will help. But if it is apparent that nobody is having fun, it will impact the general mood.
Also, have a look at Hovi Care’s other articles on the series: 10 Wishes for Caregiver
Have a look at our other articles on how to take care of a person with dementia here.
If you need support services for your loved one, please contact us to hear more. We operate in Bali and Singapore. Read more about Hovi Care here.
